Cutting-board



(-No Model.) J. T.-SHEFFIELD.

CUTTING BOARD.

1%. 514,096'. Ptented Feb. 6, 1894.

www. M L.)

NITED STATES Fries.

CUTTING-BOARD.

l SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,096, dated February 6, 1894.

Application filed March 6, 1893. Serial No. 464,752- (NO model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES T. SHEFFIELD, of Newark, in the county of Wayne and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cutting-Boards, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

My invention is a cutting board to be used upon the lap, more particularly for cutting cloth on the bias, and it consists of a rectangular board formed with parallel grooves, and a holder for the cloth, and other features, the same being hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the device. Fig. 2 is an end elevation seen as indicated by arrow in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an end elevation more accurately showing the form of the device, the holder f or the cloth being shown in .two positions by full and dotted lines. Fig. 4 is a portion of the front edge showing the pin kerfs in the cloth-holder. Figs. 3 and 4 are drawn to a scale larger than that of Figs. l and 2.y

Referring to the parts shown, A is the board proper which is preferably made of maple or other hard Wood, it being thin and light, and stiffened by cross cleats a, secured to its under side. The board is usually made rectangular in form, one yard long and onethird to one-half yard wide with a light longitudinal rib or gage h, at its rear edge rising above its face and extending throughout its -length. The face of the board is further formed with longitudinal grooves o, extending from end to end of the board parallel with the gage b, these grooves being usually onehalf inch apart center to center, the one adjacent to b being about one-half an inch therefrom. The clothV to be cut is laid upon the board and the grooves c admit of one blade of a pair of shears to be passed under the cloth so the latter may be out along the lines of the grooves. At the rear edge of the board is hinged a longitudinal strip cl, adapted to be turned down upon the face of the board or swung back therefrom, clearly shown in Fig. 3. This strip is preferably made quadrantal in cross section, and it is provided with a handle f, by which to operate it. When the strip is turned down upon the board it covers' the gage b, it being rabbeted or formed with a longitudinal recess in which to receive said gage. The face of the strip contiguous to the face ofthe board is provided with numerous small pins e, to pierce and hold the cloth, the points of these pins passing through the cloth and entering small cavities in the face of the board.

The cloth to be cut is irst folded on the bias and the folded edge placed fairly against the gage b, after which the strip d is brought down upon it to hold it in place, as above described. By cutting the doubled cloth with shears along the grooves c, as above stated, bias strips may be formed having widths in multiples of a half-inch.

The front edge of the board (next the user) is formed into a yard scale g, by being divided into feet, inches and half-inches as shown in Fig. 1, and lines n, are drawn across the face of the board dividing the latter into equal parts or otherwise as may be convenient. Diagonal or bias lines 0, are also drawn across the face of the board at different places to suit the convenience of the person using the board. Also figures indicating distances from the gage b measured along lines either oblique or at right-angles with said gage may be supplied to the board as may be convenient.

Minor or shallow grooves r, are formed at different places in the face of the board between the main grooves a to mark equal divisions of a yard as approximately one-sixteenth, three-sixteenths, &c., measured along the diagonallines. The alternate divisions, one-eighth, one-fourth, dto., fall in the main grooves a.

It sometimes occurs that when the cloth is doubled on a bias and the folded edge placed against the gage b, as above stated, it will not lie fairly down upon the board along the folded part but be inclined to curl or rise up. This is more particularly the case with elastic worsteds, and similar cloth. This difficulty I provide for by forming short transverse kerfs h, in the front edge of the holder d, and using common. pins, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. To more particularly describe this, I stick pins vertically through the cloth near the fold and the gage 17,' to hold the cloth in place until the IOO holderd can be brought down upon it. Care being taken to set the pins opposite the kerfs h, they are not in the way of the holder being brought down to place. After the holder is thus made to press the cloth the pins are removed. The holder when brought down upon the cloth remains in pla-oe by its own weight and by the stiffness of the hinges s, forming the joint.

What I claim as my invention is- In combination with a cutting board, one surface of which is provided with longitudinal grooves, a portion of which are shallower than the others, and one edge is formed into a scale and the opposite edge is provided with a gage projecting above the surface thereof, said grooves being parallel with the gage, and

JAMES T. SHEFFIELD.

Witnesses:

T. DAvIs PREsCoTT, MARTIN VAN DOORN. 

